Albuquerque Police Lawsuits Could Cost $12+ Million

That figure includes a $10.3 million jury award last month in a lawsuit filed by the family of Iraq War veteran Kenneth Ellis III.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the taxpayer tab for 2013 would eclipse the three previous years combined for money paid out on police misconduct cases, depending on how the Ellis verdict and a handful of other pending lawsuits play out.

Albuquerque police cases cost the city $1.9 million last year, the lowest total since 2007.

Counting judgments, settlements and legal costs, the city paid out about $6 million to cover police lawsuits in 2010.